Films with item numbers to carry ‘A’ certificate!

All films with item songs will get an ‘Adult’ rating, as per a recent order of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). An ‘A’ certificate will hit filmmakers hard, as satellite television rates of the film will plunge.

A meeting of CBFC members in Mumbai was critical of what the censors had passed. The censor board came under tremendous pressure after the recent Delhi gang rape.

The CBFC CEO Pankaja Thakur has said : “ We have decided to issue ‘A’ certificate to any film which has an item number” The CBFC felt some strict measures has to be taken before the public anger boils over.

Producers in south are already hit by the ban, as most pictures which have item numbers are now calling it “fun song” !! But CBFC chief Leela Samson is clear that in whatever name you call an item song, the producer will have to take an ‘A’ cut!

Meanwhile after Vishwaroopam controversy and subsequent ban in Tamil Nadu, the centre has appointed a judicial commission to review the Cinematography Act, which creates and empowers the national censor board.

An eight-member committee has been appointed by the centre headed by retired Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Mukul Mudgal, and includes Sharmila Tagore, who headed the censor board, and award-winning lyricist and parliamentarian Javed Akhtar.